Proceedings Paper

The Dark UNiverse Explorer (DUNE) is a wide-field imaging mission concept whose primary goal is the study
of dark energy and dark matter with unprecedented precision. To this end, DUNE is optimised for weak gravitational
lensing, and also uses complementary cosmological probes, such as baryonic oscillations, the integrated
Sachs-Wolf effect, and cluster counts. Immediate additional goals concern the evolution of galaxies, to be studied
with groundbreaking statistics, the detailed structure of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and the demographics
of Earth-mass planets. DUNE is a medium class mission consisting of a 1.2m telescope designed to carry out
an all-sky survey in one visible and three NIR bands (1deg2 field-of-view) which will form a unique legacy for
astronomy. DUNE has been selected jointly with SPACE for an ESA Assessment phase which has led to the
Euclid merged mission concept.